After installing a new DIMM I plugged the power cord back in. Immediately the power supply comes on and the CD-Rom light flashes. The power light does not come on and nothing is on the monitor. All this happens before I touch the power button. I did the same upgrade to two other machines with the exact same configuration with no problem. Very frustrated here!

Welcome, Fred. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Best guess -- something was disturbed or knocked loose enough to cause this, or the RAM stick needs to be re-seated. Sometimes an unused DIMM slot can get dusty, so you might try a few shots from a can of compressed air. Double-check all the power and data connections too. If still no boot, try the offending stick in one of the machines that you were successful with. Although the systems have the same hardware configuration, there may be some differences in the BIOS settings. For example, mine has an option called "Power-up State" to determine the response to a power interruption, and the choices are "Stay Off" or "Resume". Yours may be similar.

Also look on the back of the case for a main power switch. When you unplug the computer, make sure that switch is turned off. Some ATX cases have them, some don't.

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Thanks tjay and Pete. I reseated all data plugs, blow out the inside and Shazaam! I'm back in business with the upgraded memory! The machine does not, however, have a main power switch in back. Thanks guys for the help!

Okay....It's done it again......Is my motherboard fried?

No ...I doubt you have hurt the Motherboard.....however, SOMEthing is either not seated correct OR is shorting out. The Dimms chips MUST be seated completely into the dimms slot for a good connection to occur-you dont have to force them in; however, you DO need to make sure the metal contacts on the dimms are NOT visible. Additionally, none of the contacts on the PCI or ISA cards should be visible either (in other words, seated firmly into the motherboard). This symptom occurs for me MOST often when the video card is not seated completely or has gone bad....try reseating it for sure. Good luck......let us know. You MIGHT have a bad power supply causing this strange behavior; however, until you have tried the stuff above.....we will hope for the best.

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[This message has been edited by Randy_tx (edited 04-03-2001).]